Emergency Leave Transfer Program

In the event of major disasters or emergencies declared by the President, such as floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, bombings, etc., that result in severe adverse effects for a substantial number of employees, the President may direct the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish an emergency leave transfer program. Under such a program, an employee in any Executive or Judicial branch agency may donate annual leave for transfer to employees of his or her agency or to employees of other agencies who are adversely affected by the disaster or emergency. This program provides Federal employees with a special opportunity to help their fellow workers in times of need.

Agency’s Role

Agencies are in the best position to determine whether donated annual leave is needed by their employees in disaster situations and can quickly facilitate the transfer of donated annual leave within their agencies. Therefore, each agency is responsible for determining whether, and how much, donated annual leave is needed by affected employees; approving leave donors and/or leave recipients within the agency; and facilitating the distribution of donated annual leave from approved leave donors to approved leave recipients within the agency.

OPM’s Role

When a Federal agency notifies OPM that the amount of annual leave donated by its employees is not sufficient to meet the needs of its approved emergency leave recipients, OPM will coordinate a Governmentwide transfer of annual leave from donating agencies to affected agencies for crediting to their emergency leave recipients.